The Path of the Monkey.

Fighting.

[pathofthemonkey]

A Season of Training

Thankfully, I’ve been getting back into the swing of consistent, hard training. We all know how hard it is to keep up with it and to make the time and effort, but the good news is that the mat will always wait for us. Even if we took off weeks/months/years and are embarrassed to return, the mat doesn’t judge. 

(clearly, I’ve mastered how to use makeshift tripods [as long as you like heads cut off])

I feel my body holding me back. It isn’t strong enough, flexible enough, or coordinated enough; however, the passion I have for my training is enough. With the thanks of my Kung Fu brother, my eyes are progressively becoming more and more open to how I can improve. I’ve been learning what I’ve been doing wrong and how to move my body “properly” in ways that can only be described as unnatural. This is equal parts invigorating and maddening. 

These recent sessions, I have trained many of the same movements hundreds of times, recording and reviewing only to find that barely any change has been made. Well, damn. As frustrating as it is though, I’m still get excited to go back in tomorrow for the same things because if I’ve learned anything from my peers, it all comes down to perseverance, not some natural gift. 

I have learned so much lately about my body and my martial art. But what I have learned most is how much of a novice I am and how hungry I am to learn more and push my limits. Best of all though is simply how good it feels to train.

Therefore, I’ll need all the time i can get with the mat, who I know is always waiting for me.

[pathofthemonkey]

worked on a few of the more acrobatic parts of training. have so much to work on! 540 is coming along nicely; just have to land it consistently. However, butterfly twist seems like a pipe dream!

[goatanddragon]

happy birthday, monkey!

shout-out to @pathofthemonkey for turning the big two-five today! 

<3 

[pathofthemonkey]

Couldn’t be more blessed to have spent my birthday doing what I love most (teaching an intense class) with those I love most (Goat plus other family). I have the best Kung Fu family that I could ask for! 

[pathofthemonkey]

Monkey habitat

[pathofthemonkey]

Mindful Repetition

My Sifu told me that repetition is the mother of all skill. Simple as it is, I could not agree more. Over the last couple of years, I have continually preached in my class the importance of practicing mindfully and with full intention, so it was only natural that when my personal practice came along, that went out the window. Let’s face it, it’s hard and takes a considerable amount of time and energy. However, these last few months I have found incredible joy in training that I had been missing out on for years. So, is it exhausting? Excruciatingly so. Should we practice that way? Absolutely. 

I would like to start by thanking my older Kung Fu brother and friend who gave me the 1% inspiration and showed me through example how to work through the 99% perspiration. Knowing you, you’ve found this post way too quickly. Until I really learned how to better train and how to work hard in the pursuit of my dream, my practice was devoid of passion. I walked through a few forms, and that was a good enough session. Nowadays, it seems like i can’t call it “training” if my legs don’t give out. I have become helplessly addicted to the type of training that I previously thought was so ridiculous. I’m not saying by any means that I’ve achieved any level of mastery or that I am skilled. Conversely, I find myself more humbled by my new regimen than I was when waltzing through movements many months back. Now, I collapse more than I stick landings, strain muscles more than I ever had combined, and drip sweat in a way that can only be described as satisfying. I had always romanticized the idea of eating bitter, and I still don’t think I really understand how to eat bitter very well, but I’m getting closer on this path. 

“Nana korobi ya oki”- Japanese Proverb  

 (Fall down seven times, get up eight)

Tonight I fell down countless times. My legs burned like hell and it’s unbearably frustrating when you can’t quite get a move correctly and after dozens of tries, you keep falling down. Despite only landing it a few times though (and even those, I have so much to fix), every time I got up and did it again, my muscles got stronger and learned. I know I have hundreds of hard sessions to go before I’ll reap the bounty, but I am certain that even though it won’t ever be perfect, it will have been worth it.

I am nowhere close to where I need to be. I am still highly undeserving of where I am. But I am definitely full of passion and an unquenchable desire to improve at my art. I will be the first to say that I do not have a natural gift for the martial arts, but I do have an intense love for it and that will carry me. 

So, if repetition truly is the mother of all skill, then theoretically anybody can master whichever art they love. Why not me too? All I have to do is practice mindfully, train passionately, and of course, always do it again.

[pathofthemonkey]

New Martial Arts Amino App!

For all who may be interested, there is a new community dedicated to those who want to connect through the martial arts! It is still a fairly new community, but once it gains some momentum, it should be awesome! Go ahead and join and start posting today! You can blog about your experiences, post pictures, ask (or answer!) advice of the community, and connect to people who love martial arts as much as you do! Feel free to gush all you like about your new forms or techniques and post gifs of your new jumping kick you landed! This is for any and all martial arts practitioners! Download the Amino app today!

http://aminoapps.com/c/martial-arts-amino

[pathofthemonkey]

Clicked.

Today in my private lesson, my Sifu was having me do a lot of forms in preparation for competition next month. While pointing out points to improve upon for Xiao Hu Yuen, he gave an example for one part that has always been a no-brainer. Hammer fist the ribs, backfist behind, the hammer fist again while sinking the weight. Easy. Although, he instructed that the first part of the movement should have more whip, which is simple enough, but when he compared how he wanted it to look to how I was doing the motion, it was night and day. It’s one of those feelings where you start to do it correctly and you’re not sure how the other way could have felt correct before. It feels more powerful, applicable, and well-- just good. Feeling the difference clicked something in my mind that gave me the sense that I should reanalyze my forms and feel out where else I could implement this seemingly obvious change, breeding a refreshed sense of potential improvement. It’s not often that the growth feels apparent, at least for me; It’s typically a very slow progression, but occasionally there’s that shock of inspiration that redirects my thinking and shoots my training forward. Hopefully that’s what’s happening now, unsurprisingly spurred by the impending tournament. 

After going through a few forms and having Sifu check that they were okay, I decided to attempt some butterfly kicks. Sifu had previously recommended that I not do them in my Tiger Hook form, yet I decided to get in some practice and bring it up to him again, in hopes of his approval to continue training with them in the form for competition. Naturally, they aren’t still where I want them to be, but luckily I got them to a point where Sifu gave me the green light to keep at them so i’m happy for the improvement thus far. Even so, there’s something a little off about the motion when i swing the sword under me and I’m not entirely sure what to adjust, but it’s driving me insane. Regardless, I definitely need to get my legs up higher and do it 1,000 more times to smooth it out.

The prospect of competition is finally starting to hit now that I’ve finally registered. I’m ready to work hard and hopefully see some improvement over the next month. As it stands, a lot of my focus needs to be directed towards stance training and overall endurance. The last few months, college has made me lethargic and I’ve regressed. I’m still crazy busy, but I can’t let that become an excuse. My training is still important and I have to make my school proud. So for the next 25 days, I need to ask questions, take lots of video to review technique, and above all, DRILL. After all, it’s just as Sifu says: “Repetition is the mother of all skill.”

[pathofthemonkey]

Clean Slate.

It’s truly a beautiful thing when we look back and see the fruits of growth. Nourished by the support of friends and family, what was once a seed of hopeful passion has expanded into a metaphorical monolith, providing comfort and reflection. Searching through the posts on my older blog, I found the journey of my first days starting Kung Fu and was reminded of the various emotions seated in the times surrounding. My entrance into the world of martial arts could not have been better timed, as I was aimless, self-conscious, and had no sense of perseverance; And while each of which is so easily listed, the depth sunk into my core, leaving me feeling inconsolably worthless. Plagued by being a person I didn’t want to be, I was truly resting at rock bottom, blinking blankly and grasping at air, trying to find out who I was by doing any possible activity that came to me. Fortunately, one of these was Kung Fu and despite my self-dejection and unending self-pity, I (albeit crudely) documented my first year of Kung Fu training. Reading through the archives of my experience for the first time, I recalled my own development and I remembered the light that Kung Fu brought to me each time I stepped onto the canvas mat. I look back and I can’t think of when the darkness stopped binding me, yet somewhere along the way, Kung Fu taught me far more than how to punch or do a form with low stances. It taught me the tools to build confidence, the way to work hard and do my best even if it’s not paved with applause or enjoyable work. I learned the importance of finding people you want to protect. It is through Kung Fu that I found who I am. One of my blog posts was all about “eating bitter,“ which is still a philosophy I hold dear, inspired by author Matthew Polly. It means to not fear the turbulence and to find glory by doing your best from the ground up. It means to not grow comfortable with where you are. I read blog posts of how excited I was at potentially moving to Plano, bringing me closer to the Kung Fu I loved. I read posts I typed with weary eyes from 16-hour workdays, going between jobs to pay my way. I used to wear a bandana to my jobs with “eat bitter” written in Chinese.

5 years later, I am in a situation that feels absolutely surreal. I am an instructor at the school, surrounded by irreplaceable friends and mentors. It is only because I had my parents telling me I could. It’s because I had the love and friendship of Coomer. His guidance and reassurance when most needed consistently ignited a desire to strive for more in my training. I owe everything I am to Kung Fu and those around me. The best part, in my opinion, is that despite how unreal it seems to look back on how far I’ve come, the story is nowhere close to being finished. Just as well, I want to be able to look back on this time in the future and read about where I am now. I want to remember the feelings I share with those I love endlessly. I want to remain inspired and to always strive to be better. I want to eat bitter so that I can truly understand and appreciate the sweet. But even if I fade from this blog and my words reach no eyes but my own, I want to remain focused on how my actions must reflect my passions. I need to put my heart out on the mat constantly to show my undying love for my art. I have high ambitions for my future in Kung Fu, but I can’t say it any better than I did the night I taught my first private lesson.